Lucky me

I was at Waddle n Swaddle this afternoon nursing Cole  (and buying a new carrier- among other things) when a man walked in and went straight to the counter. He began his request, "I need a" and paused a minute as he held his iPhone up to his eyes and read, "a nipple shield that doesn't catch milk, but works for flat nipples." The saleswoman immediately found him a nipple shield, and because he was told by his fiance to purchase two nipple shields, and because the saleswoman couldn't tell if there were two in there, he said, "I'm buying it anyway," and then proceeded to rip open the package to check if there were indeed two nipple shields. I chuckled and Cole kept de-latching to see what was going on.  He even waved at the man and said "Buh-bye" as the man left the store.

I tell this story because it brought me back to those bleary newborn days, when breastfeeding was a real challenge, when Cole didn't sleep for longer than two hours, and when I would spend just about anything if it meant I could get a little bit of help on either of those ends.

When I told Keith this story, he remembered walking in a sleep deprived fog into Toys R Us with a mission - buy a swing. He remembers thinking, "I don't care - I'll pay full price if it means Cole will sleep a little bit longer. And yes, I want goddamn batteries." (If you've ever been to TRU or BRU you are probably chuckling a little because you, too, have been harassed into buying batteries, even if you only bought diapers.)

I'm writing this because it has been a long journey to get here from there. Right now, just five days shy of 17 months, we are having so much fun. Yes, there are times when I want to pull my hair out (if it hasn't already been pulled out) because Cole is so focused on doing what he wants to do. And his focuses range from climbing into and out of the toy chest a dozen times, all the while saying "Tuck! Tuck!" (for stuck) to walking up and down the stairs at whatever place we are at that has stairs (because we have none at home).  But those moments are also beautiful, because his personality is truly shining. He loves the cats, he loves to watch older kids and people. He loves to watch cars and buses go by. He loves to play in the park, run with sticks, step in puddles, and watch bugs. He loves to climb on my back and walk on Keith's stomach. He loves to be bounced on one knee. He loves to read books and point out the objects he knows ("Doll!" "Drum!") He's still such a happy, friendly, loving child, that I couldn't ask for a more wonderful human being to call my son.

So without further adieu... here is my son's first school picture. (This is a picture of a picture, so please excuse the quality. I couldn't wait for Keith to scan it in, I just wanted to post it!)

Coming soon - a post about the carrier I just bought (because I'm sure you're dying to know.)